Cody Jones, Wanhanen Headline Big 12 Awards
5/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
In all, a league-best 14 Horned Frogs earned all-conference accolades. TCU led the way with five first-team selections, to go along with one second-team honoree and eight honorable mention accolades.
Joining Jones and Wanhanen on the first-team were Riley Ferrell, Preston Morrison and Alex Young. Keaton Jones was named second-team all-Big 12. Tyler Alexander, Nolan Brown, Jeremie Fagnan, Derek Odell, Evan Skoug, Dane Steinhagen, Trey Teakell and Mitchell Traver were honorable mention selections. Skoug and Wanhanen were also named to the All-Freshman squad.
Cody Jones is the first Horned Frog to earn Player of the Year honors since Royce Huffman was the WAC Player of the Year in 1999. He joins Lance Brown (SWC, 1963), Jimmy Duffy (SWC, 1969) and Huffman as the only Horned Frogs to earn Player of the Year honors. A 2014 honorable mention performer, Jones paced the Big 12 with a .364 batting average and 25 stolen bases in the regular season. In league action, Jones was even better with a .393 average with 16 stolen bases.
Wanhanen is the fifth Horned Frog to earn league Freshman of the Year accolades joining Royce Huffman (SWC, 1996), Chad Huffman (Conference USA, 2004), Matt Purke (Mountain West, 2010) and Morrison (Mountain West, 2012). He is also the first freshman to earn first-team all-conference honors since Morrison in 2012. He is second on the team with a .346 average and third with 30 RBIs. In league play, Wanhanen hit .364 with 14 RBIs.
Schlossnagle earns his first Big 12 Coach of the Year honor and the eighth of his coaching career. He was a seven-time coach of the Year in the Mountain West with the first coming as head coach at UNLV in 2003. Schlossnagle earned six consecutive Mountain West Coach of the Year honors from 2006-11. The Horned Frogs wrapped up the regular season with a 43-9 record and an 18-5 mark in league play.
Morrison is the first Horned Frog to be a four-time first-team all-conference performer. The senior boasts an 11-1 record in 14 appearances. He has a 2.24 ERA in a team-leading 92 1/3 innings pitched.
Young, a 2013 second-team all-Big 12 performer, has excelled in his shift to the starting rotation this season. He is 9-2 with a 1.82 ERA and leads the team with 74 strikeouts in 74 innings pitched.
Ferrell earns first-team honors for the second straight season. The junior leads the league and ranks eighth nationally with 14 saves. He leads the team with 25 appearances out of the bullpen and is 1-1 with a 0.68 ERA. Ferrell has 42 strikeouts in 26 2/3 innings pitched.
A 2014 honorable mention all-conference performer, Keaton Jones is TCU's lone second-team honoree. One of just three Horned Frogs to have started all 52 games, Jones ranks second on the team with 32 RBIs and fifth with eight stolen bases.
Alexander, a 2014 second-team all-conference performer, has split time as a weekend starter and a midweek starter. He is 5-2 on the year with a 2.87 ERA in 78 1/3 innings pitched. Alexander made just four starts in league play where he posted a 2-0 record.
Brown has started all but one game this season and ranks third on the team with a .322 average as TCU's everyday right fielder. His 17 stolen bases are tied for the third most in the Big 12.
Fagnan has played in 38 games this season and is hitting .303 on the year. Two of his three home runs this season have come in conference play.
Odell, a 2014 second-team all-conference performer, has played in 48 games and started 47. He is hitting .276 on the year with seven doubles, three home runs and 29 RBIs. The senior leads the team with 17 two-out RBIs.
Skoug, one of three freshmen to earn a spot on the all-conference team and the all-freshmen team, is one of three Horned Frogs to have started all 52 games this season. He leads the squad with six home runs and 38 RBIs.
Steinhagen has played in 48 games and started 45, all in left field. He is one of four Frogs to have a batting average over .300 at .301. On the season, he has six doubles and two triples as part of his 52 hits.
Teakell ranks second on the team with 24 appearances on the mound. He owns a 1-1 record and has combined on six of TCU's nine shutouts this season. In 37 2/3 innings pitched this year, Teakell has a slim 1.19 ERA.
Traver has made 12 starts as part of 13 appearances on the mound. He is 7-2 with a 1.89 ERA in 62 innings pitched this season.
The Horned Frogs are the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships. The tournament is set to get underway at ONEOK Park in Tulsa, Okla. on Wednesday. TCU's first game comes Wednesday against the tournament's eighth seed, Baylor. Game time is set for 12:30 p.m. The entire tournament leading up to the championship game will be televised on FOX College Sports.
